Chapter 7: Retribution
The moment Chenyang’s hand touched Qin Fei’Er’s skin, he could clearly feel how delicate and smooth it was.
He couldn’t resist caressing it with his fingertips, and he took another step closer.
Her alluring fragrance and the voluptuous peaks so close at hand made Chenyang increasingly aroused, and he grew bolder.
However, just as his hand was about to reach for those proud peaks, Qin Fei’Er suddenly looked up. "Xiaochen... what do you think you’re doing?!"
Her icy words, tinged with anger, instantly snapped Chenyang back to his senses.
Realizing he’d been too forward, he quickly lowered his hand and used the motion to pick up the bath towel from the floor. "I’m sorry, Aunt Qin. I... I was just trying to help you get your towel. I didn’t dare to look at you, so my hand ended up in the wrong place."
Qin Fei’Er was still flustered from the incident, and seeing that Chenyang had indeed picked up her bath towel, she didn’t give it a second thought.
After wrapping the towel around herself again, she thanked him with a blush and quickly changed the subject. "Let’s go have a look at your room."
"Alright!"
Although he hadn’t gotten what he wanted, Chenyang had certainly enjoyed the view.
Reining in those thoughts, he finally took a look around the apartment.
It was a three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with a living room.
To make it easier to care for the patient, Qin Fei’Er had deliberately placed Li Qiang and Lin Xiaowei in the room nearest to the front door.
That room was the largest and had its own en-suite bathroom.
She herself lived in the secondary bedroom on the right, on the north side.
As for Chenyang’s room, it was the small bedroom on the left.
A bathroom separated the two rooms.
Due to the original layout, the area with their doors was recessed, so the doors weren’t side-by-side but directly faced each other.
This meant that if they opened their doors at the same time, they could see right into each other’s rooms.
Once they were inside, Qin Fei’Er said apologetically, "I’ve been busy with my son and daughter-in-law’s wedding lately and haven’t had a chance to clean. Please don’t mind the mess."
"Not at all, Aunt Qin. It’s just a little dusty. I can clean it up myself later."
"Okay. There’s a desk here. I was going to move it into my son’s room, but my daughter-in-law doesn’t really like it. If you don’t need it, we can move it into my room later."
"No, that’s fine. I actually have a habit of reading."
Chenyang smiled and took the opportunity to ask the question that had been nagging at him. "Aunt Qin, today is your son’s wedding day. He should be home, shouldn’t he? How come I haven’t seen him?"
"Sigh."
At the mention of this, a look of sorrow crossed Qin Fei’Er’s beautiful face.
"Since you’re living here now, you’ll find out sooner or later anyway, so I might as well tell you. My son... he’s paralyzed."
"Paralyzed?"
"Yes. The year before last, after he graduated from Medical University, he was about to start his internship at the City Hospital. But on his very first day, just as he reached the building, a suicidal patient jumped from the roof and landed right on top of him."
"The patient survived, but my son had a brush with death. They managed to save his life, but he was left completely paralyzed."
Hearing this, Chenyang inwardly rejoiced. ’Serves him right!’
Li Qiang’s grades were terrible. Both his theoretical knowledge and practical skills in medicine were subpar; he wasn’t the least bit qualified for an internship.
But after stealing Chenyang’s graduation thesis and using money and connections to snatch away his internship spot, he had brazenly become the star of that year’s intern class.
With what he had stolen from Chenyang and his family’s connections, his future in Yang City’s medical field was all but guaranteed!
But the heavens have eyes!
He met with disaster on the very first day of his internship.
Forget about making a name for himself—now he needed help just to eat or take a piss.
The thought of Li Qiang’s pathetic state—a perfect example of instant karma—brought an ecstatic smile to Chenyang’s face.
Qin Fei’Er, lost in her sorrowful memories, didn’t notice Chenyang’s strange reaction and continued, as if to herself, "My poor son... He should be in the prime of his life, with a brilliant future, but now he’s stuck in bed, completely dependent on others. The heavens are so unfair."
’Fair?’
’When your son stole my thesis and snatched my internship spot, you weren’t talking about fairness then, were you?’
Chenyang cursed inwardly, but on the surface, he feigned sympathy and offered a few words of comfort.
Qin Fei’Er sighed. "The person who injured Qiangqiang was trying to commit suicide because they couldn’t afford medical treatment and didn’t want to suffer anymore. So, of course, they couldn’t provide any compensation."
"And while our family had some savings before, after paying for several of Qiangqiang’s surgeries, we’ve nearly hit rock bottom."
"I had to take early retirement from my job to take care of him, so my income is pitifully low. Left with no choice, I decided to rent out a room to help make ends meet."
Chenyang smiled. "It’s all very unfortunate, but for your family to gain such a beautiful daughter-in-law under these circumstances... I suppose that’s heaven’s way of compensating you."
Qin Fei’Er knew Chenyang was complimenting Lin Xiaowei on not being materialistic.
Having a daughter-in-law like her was truly the family’s greatest blessing.
But in reality, Lin Xiaowei didn’t like Li Qiang at all. She only married into the family because she had ulterior motives.
To put it bluntly, the marriage was more of a transaction.
Qin Fei’Er wanted a daughter-in-law who could help care for her son and, ideally, give Li Qiang a son of his own.
Lin Xiaowei, on the other hand, was using the marriage to secure city residency and a decent, stable job for herself.
Still, it wasn’t a savory arrangement, and one shouldn’t air their dirty laundry in public, so she didn’t explain this to Chenyang. She just gave a faint smile. "Weiwei is a good girl. Our family owes her a great deal."
"I’m sure she understands."
"I hope so." Qin Fei’Er waved her hand dismissively. "You have a general idea of my son’s situation now. He needs to go to the hospital for a check-up every week, and Weiwei and I will probably have trouble moving him. So, I was hoping you could help us out, Xiaochen."
"No problem."
Seeing Chenyang agree without the slightest hesitation, Qin Fei’Er looked touched. After thanking him, she said:
"It’s almost dinnertime. Since today is my son and daughter-in-law’s wedding day, and because of the special circumstances, we didn’t invite any friends or family. In a bit, I was hoping you could join us as a ’friend of theirs’ to liven things up. Maybe you can even help with the traditional teasing of the newlyweds tonight, would that be alright?"